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Five people to watch in Palm Beach County as candidate qualifying week begins

Florida’s candidate qualifying period — when state and county office-seekers must pay filing fees and submit final paperwork to get on the 2014 ballot — begins at noon today and runs until noon Friday.

1. Michelle Santamaria — The daughter of term-limited Palm Beach County Commissioner Jess Santamaria has been mentioned for years as a potential candidate for the western county District 6 commission seat.

Speculation heightened after the younger Santamaria, an attorney, attended a candidate workshop at the county Elections Office last month and picked up a packet of candidate filing papers there last week.

2. Ellyn Bogdanoff — The former Republican state Senator ended more than a year of speculation by announcing she’s running for the Palm Beach-Broward District 34 seat of Democratic Sen. Maria Sachs. Sachs defeated Bogdanoff in Florida’s only Senate race that pitted one incumbent against another because of redistricting. A Sachs-Bogdanoff rematch has been widely anticipated. But while Bogdanoff took her time in deciding whether to run, two other Republicans recently opened campaigns — tea party activist Karin Hoffman and Boca Home Care Services CEO Joseph Bensmihen. And Keiser University exec Belinda Keiser has looked at the race as well, according to Florida Trend’s Jason Garcia.

So this week will offer clues on how easy or difficult it will be for Bogdanoff to get another shot at Sachs.

Sen. Joe Negron

3. Joe Negron — The Republican Senator from Stuart, whose District 32 includes part of Palm Beach County, is a heavy favorite for re-election despite a primary challenge from Brandon Michael Cannon and the candidacy of Democrat Bruno Moore.

With Negron, the race to watch is his battle against Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, for the 2016 Senate presidency. In that light, the GOP primary in District 34 bears watching since Bogdanoff is a Latvala ally and it’s unclear who her potential rivals would support.

Burdick

4. Paulette Burdick — The Democratic county commissioner hasn’t drawn an opponent for her heavily Democratic District 2 seat. If no challenger emerges before noon Friday, Burdick will automatically win re-election.

County Mayor Priscilla Taylor won re-election without opposition when no one else filed for her commission seat two years ago.

State Rep. Pat Rooney Jr.

5. Pat Rooney Jr. — The two-term Republican state House member from West Palm Beach hasn’t drawn an opponent.

Four of Rooney’s Democratic colleagues in the county’s House delegation — Reps. Lori Berman, Dave Kerner, Bobby Powell and Irving Slosberg — are also unopposed. But while the Dems come from heavily Democratic districts, Rooney’s is a more competitive seat where Republicans have a 2.1 percent registration edge.